Back in the days that Section 28 still existed...
I went on a demonstration outside the gates of Canterbury cathedral to protest against it. Canterbury is of course the most useful place in the world to demonstrate in. Some tiny little Kentish village that's only famous because of the hefty girt pile of stones in the middle of it (a cathedral that looks surprisingly like a Mon Calamari cruiser) doesn't exactly have many people of political authority lurking about in it, but demonstrate we did.

Anyway. Imagine the scene. About two dozen people (generous estimate) including me were milling around outside the Franklin & Firkin (some of us getting as far as Dunkin' Donuts!) holding banners and shouting things like "Down with Section 28! (careful now!)" and "We're here, we're queer, and we don't really appreciate an anachronistic and overly socially conservative piece of local legislation which in reality serves only to further persecute an already vulnerable section of society by depriving them of valuable pastoral support from a group of people who really ought to be able to help them!". Yeah, we had the whole protesting thing down to a tee. So anway. I was milling about, as you do at this sort of thing, when a sweet little old lady, must have been well into her eighties, came up to me and started having a chat.

"So what's all this about then?" she asked. I started explaining what Section 28 was, and why we thought it was a Bad Thing. After a few moments, she looked me up and down and said "So you're a gay then?", at which point I explained that no, I was straight, but the vast majority of my friends there were. This sweet, dear, charming elderly lady gave me a conspiratorial wink and said "Gays didn't exist when I was a girl, but at least they're better than the fucking niggers. Good luck to you!"

Exactly the sort of people we were hoping to get the support of! I felt proud.
(Sat 23rd Feb 2013, 2:55, More)